A previouslyunknown software flaw in a widelydeployed general electric energy management system contributed to the devastating scope of the august 14th northeastern u. The design site for hardware software, and firmware engineers. More than 35 million people were hit by the northeast blackout in 1965, one of the largest outages in north american history. One of them was buried in a massive piece of software compiled from.
Ten years later, we are still grappling with concerns over the vulnerability of the power grid. It certainly compounded the problems relating to the congestion of key communications links used by utilities to coordinate contingency efforts. There are strict protocols in place which govern the procedures to be followed should a power company encounter problems. Chinese hackers may have been responsible for the recent power outage in florida, and the widespread blackout that struck the northeastern u. Blaster worm linked to severity of blackout computerworld.
The 2003 northeast blackoutfive years later scientific. Northeast blackout leaves 50m people without power, august 14, 2003. A man reads the newspaper by flashlight during the northeast blackout in august 2003. Grid better prepared to prevent a repeat of the 2003 blackout. Final report on the august 14, 2003 blackout in the united. A technician had shut it off to upgrade the software, and then gone to lunch.
The nations electrical system has undergone some revampingmaybe still not enoughsince tens of millions in the. On august 14, 2003, a series of faults caused by tree branches touching power lines in ohio, which were then complicated by human error, software issues, and equipment failures, led to the most. A software bug at firstenergy corporation in ohio caused this power outage. Much larger than the northeast blackout of 1965, in america alone, this blackout affected 45 million people in 8 states. The 2003 northeast blackoutfive years later scientific american. A similar incident occurred in 2003, when a power grid collapse. Technical analysis of the august 14, 2003, blackout nerc. The outage occurred after the market had closed and, for kingdon at least, only. The northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage throughout parts of the northeastern and midwestern united states, and the canadian province of ontario on august 14, 2003, beginning just after 4. Created by laura cronin, conor mccarter, and stephanie tilden.
An operator corrects the telemetry problem, but forgets to restart the. Three transmission lines in ohio apparently started a chain reaction that caused the widespread blackout across parts of the northeast, midwest and southern canada, according to. Blackout hits northeast united states a major outage knocked out power across the eastern united states and parts of canada on august 14, 2003. An analysis of the causes and consequences of the northeast blackout of 2003. The blackout that exposed the flaws in the grid the new. Cause, software bug in the alarm system in the control room of firstenergy. The blackout that exposed the flaws in the grid the new york. A massive power outage like argentinas could happen in.
On august 14, 2003, more than 50 million people in the united. The northeast blackout struck 15 years ago today extremetech. The views expressed are those of the authors and are. The main problem kicked off when highvoltage transmission lines began to sag under heavy load and made contact with trees. Software failure cited in august blackout investigation. The great north america blackout the story shortly after 4 p.
Normally, the problem would have tripped an alarm in the control room of firstenergy corporation, an ohiobased utility company, but the alarm. Software failure cited in august blackout investigation computerworld. Canada power system outage task force final report on the august 14, 2003 blackout in the united states and canada. The northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage throughout parts of the. The report makes clear that this blackout could have been prevented and that immediate actions must be taken in both the united states and canada to ensure that our electric system is more reliable. Northeast blackout of 2003 the northeast blackout of 2003 is the second most widespread power outage in history. Many believed that such a blackout would not occur again after the northeast blackout of 1965. Photo of a toronto street corner during the 2003 blackout by john r. The massive blackout prompts some companies to turn to providers of disaster recovery services, but it operations at. Impact of northeast blackout continues to emerge by jeremy johnson and alex lefebvre 20 august 2003 the blackout that began last thursday, cutting. A task force looking into the cause of the massive aug. Software bug contributed to blackout kevin poulsen, securityfocus 20040211. In the great northeast blackout of 1965, the largest in u.